Didn’t Take a Study to Know This: Women Dig Men in Trucks

Because all women who drive red sports cars look like this. At least according to a recent survey.

Joe Diffie belted it to the top of the charts in 1994. And we knew it all along, anyway. But now, a (barely) scientific study has made it official – “There’s just something women like about a pickup man.”

In an ever futile attempt to fully understand just how the lady brain works, the white coats over at Insure.com recently conducted a survey of 2,000 men and women, asking what kinds of rides they think the most attractive people drive. Turns out the ladies love trucks – Pickup trucks, mainly, but that big, brown hunka-hunka UPS truck could rev up a gal’s lust engine, too. Here’s the rundown from the rides women dig most to the ones that won’t even get you to first base:

Pickup trucks: 32%

Sports cars: 27%

SUVs: 16%

Sedans: 11%

Hybrid or electric: 9%

UPS truck: 4%

Minivans: 2%

Mail truck: 1%

Of course, there’s a catch. To maximize your spot on the hotness scale, guys, your truck should be black, clean and sport a bed big enough to haul her stuff. Says Cars.com Executive Editor Joe Wiesenfelder, “Among the general public, a black pickup truck is a reflection of a masculine owner. A woman walks up to a black pickup truck and says to herself, ‘Here’s a guy who can help me move, bring me large gifts from Crate & Barrel and do repairs around my condo.’”

‘Nuff said, right, Ladies?

Oh, but there’s more. Weisenfelder further elaborates that a black truck can be a crucial clue as to an otherwise manly man’s proclivity for tidiness.

“If it’s a clean black pickup, she might subconsciously be thinking to herself, ‘This is a guy who can wash my car as well,’” he says.

And he should know. As a guy who reviews new vehicles for a living, he often finds himself perched behind the wheel of the latest pickup truck to hit the market, and he can’t help but notice the response.

“That’s when I find I have a lot more friends and a lot more dates than I realized,” he observes.

“We’d give a guy the eye, too, if we thought he was that heavenly combination of ruggedness, cleanliness and willingness to shop at Crate & Barrel that we’re pretty sure only really exists in Josh Lucas movies,” they said. “Yeah. We’d dig that guy.”

They do, however, warn that a guy driving a “chick car” is decidedly not hot. Drive a VW Beetle complete with the stick-on flower vase and wondering why you’re getting zero action? Get yourself to your nearest truck dealer, stat!

Meanwhile, the men have a little something to say about the cars their dream girls should drive:

Sports cars: 39%

Sedans: 22%

SUVs: 20%

Pickup trucks: 10%

Hybrid or electric vehicle: 6%

Minivans: 4%

Weisenfelder again wields some market wisdom as to why men dig chicks in sports cars, specifically BMWs and the fully applicable notion that this gal’s got some disposable income.

“As a single man, that’s attractive to me,” he says. “I don’t want to carry the entire relationship.”

Plus, this one’s likely the kind of gal who won’t give her man grief about his driving like a maniac, and might even let her hair down and let it fly Thelma & Louise-style.

But color plays a role here, too, depending upon whether a guy is a Cosmopolitan-certified commitment-phobe.

“Red has a visceral effect on the human body and psyche,” explains Alexandra McGill, lead color, material and finish designer for BMW Group Designwork USA. “Not only does red quickly catch the eye, it makes the pulse quicken, blood flow faster and increases adrenalin. Red is associated with athletics, energetic activities and fast speed.”

Well, that’s great for the single guy who has no intentions of bringing a date home to meet Mom anytime soon. However…

“The red BMW is a little high maintenance for me,” says Edmunds.com, automotive editor Mike Magrath. “A black or white BMW I can get behind. It’s sporty, elegant, and it requires the investment of enough time and money to suggest the owner is someone successful.”

Frankly, we’re a little surprised that minivans made either list, and assume those respondents must be in the market for a partner with childbearing potential. “Swagger-wagon,” in deed.

So what do you think, E3 Spark Plugs fans? When you imagine your dream guy or gal cruising down the highway, what are they driving? See full results of the survey here, then post your thoughts on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.